Kenney expects ‘credible’ career colleges will remain open to foreign students under new rules

OTTAWA — Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is confident “credible” career colleges will be eligible to admit international students when new guidelines aimed at cracking down on fraud and human smuggling come into effect in 2014.

That said, he plans to leave it to the provinces to decide which of those institutions are “credible.”

“This is about separating the wheat from the chaff and we’ll let provinces do that. They know better, they are responsible constitutionally for our post secondary education,” he said this week.

“They know who are the sound institutions and I have every expectation that credible career colleges will be put on the list of certified institutions by provincial governments but there may be some self-styled career colleges that aren’t so credible and we’ll let the provinces make that decision.”

It’s a major concern raised by Serge Buy of the National Association of Career Colleges which represents more than 400 institutions across the country.

According to the proposed regulations, student visas will only be issued to foreign students studying at designated institutions on the condition that they’re actually enrolled and going to class. The new rules will allow Canada to remove those who don’t comply and will also “streamline” access to work permits. Those enrolled in programs less than six months long will no longer be eligible for student visas.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is asking the provinces and territories to submit a list of approved institutions, and schools not on the list will be barred from accepting international students. The federal government will designate institutions if the provinces don’t step up.

Buy’s afraid some provinces won’t create more work for themselves if they don’t have to and that the federal government hasn’t been clear on whether it will give equal consideration to career colleges if tasked to draw up the eligibility list itself.

About 3,000 international students are currently enrolled at career colleges.

I cover justice, immigration and public safety issues as part of the Postmedia News politics team. I also keep tabs on what the official Opposition — the NDP — is up to in the House of Commons.
Before... read more coming here I spent several years in Montreal and Toronto with The Canadian Press covering provincial politics and major crime and court stories. I also helped cover the war in Afghanistan from inside and outside the wire.
I previously worked for the Ottawa Sun chasing crime stories and following convicts through the court system.
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